Traditional chafing dishes are typically comprised of a stand, a water pan, a dish, and heat source. The stand holds the water pan over the heat source which heats the water. A dish or dishes containing food are then suspended in the water pan to keep the food warm.
Chafing dishes are commonly used by caterers, who transport the equipment to different locations, assembling the chafing dishes for use, and then, dismantling and storing the equipment for later use. Although a chafing dish is not considered standard household kitchen equipment, chafing dishes are often uses in private homes for an occasional large party. Therefore, it is desirable to have a chafer stand that is easy to transform between its stowed compact configuration, and its extended support position
As the marketplace is increasingly competitive, it is just as necessary that the stand or rack be constructed to be as structurally efficient as possible, to minimize the use of raw materials (e.g., a reduced weight rack), without simply reducing a gauge of any wire materials that may be utilized. Structural efficiency herein may also be obtained by minimizing the number of bends or connections of the structural members, and by simplifying the hinging and pivotal couplings as much as possible, and reducing the amount of material that is used overall.
There are a number of chafing dish stands found in the prior art, each of which fails to address those issues relating to its structural efficiency, as disclosed within this specification.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,903 to Kaufman is for a portable chafing dish rack having a collapsible stand formed of four rigid plates. The plate are rotatably coupled together by piano hinges. Upon removal of one hinge pin, the plates of the stand will collapse into a compact and substantially flat configuration for storage of the device. But the pin is a separate part from the stand itself, and is subject to being misplaced or permanently lost. Also, the four-sided stand requires use of a rigid rectangular tray. The numerous separate components of this stand are very inefficient with respect to minimizing material and reducing costs.
U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2005/0167381 is for a Folding Rack for a Chafing Dish, and its configuration is also inefficient with respect to minimizing material utilized and reducing the per-unit cost of production.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,697 to Hunziker discloses a foldable chafer stand that includes a top frame having a substantial width, that is supported by legs. The legs can pivot from an extended position into proximity with the top frame. Cantilevered rings extend from the frame to hold the heat sources, and may be swung to a desired position beneath the pan supported by the frame. This chafer stand, however, has no stabilizing member to restrain the legs. Therefore, if one leg were to be pushed, it could collapse and permit the pan to topple over, causing steaming water or hot food to spill out. and possibly causing burning fuel to spill onto a surface that may be flammable. The Hunziker chafer stand is also very inefficient with respect to minimizing material and reducing the per-unit cost of production.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,800 to Orednick discloses a caterer's food display system that includes a plurality of bent wires and separate plastic legs that can be attached to the wire supports. This device suffers from some of the same disadvantages as the prior addressed above, requiring attention to the multiplicity of pieces, and its construction is not very efficient.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,068 to Sherman discloses a collapsible food service tray. However, the disclosed legs are unsecured, which is similarly susceptible to the same danger associated with an unintentional collapse of one or both of its legs, and its construction is also not very efficient.
The chafer stand of the present invention provides a significant improvement over each of those invention, and other prior art inventions.